SMITHEREENS: An album that screams Joji

George Miller, formerly known as internet sensation Filthy Frank, and now more popularly known as Joji has won the hearts of this generation again with his newest album, SMITHEREENS. With extremely popular albums like Ballads 1 and Nectar, his transition from Filthy Frank to Joji was all the more solidified. And with this new album, Joji has shown his fans that he never fails to deliver.

Joji's popularity as a singer song-writer catapulted with the release of SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK, a song rich in synths that combined melody with melancholy to create a track that appealed to a generation romanticising sadness. Since then, he's experimented with different styles in each album and seems to have finally found his footing and personal style as an artist with SMITHEREENS.

SMITHEREENS consist of nine tracks, two of which were released early to captivate the audience and make them await the album's release. Glimpse Of Us reached no. 10 on Billboard Hot 100 fairly quickly, thanks to its harrowing lyrics and simple but wistful instrumentals. The song allows a sneak peek into what the album has in store for you. 

Much like Ballads 1, SMITHEREENS makes perfect use of the airy elements of bedroom pop and synths to create tracks very characteristic of Joji. He maintains the constant use of distinctive features such as analogue synths, pensive piano ballads, and dreamy vocals in all the tracks, but we can also see him use experimental trap and electronic beats to keep the album interesting. 

The main theme of this album revolves around Joji trying to either move past heartbreak, fighting to get it back, or making do with someone new. Lyrics like "I'm only here passing time in her arms hoping to find a glimpse of us," and "I know you're almost gone. Hold on, let me in before the day is over," however, tell us that he never fully moved on. 

The best song in the album in my opinion would be Die For You. Joji has a habit of keeping one song in each album that sounds the most like his Ballads 1 roots, and for SMITHEREENS, it's this one. NIGHT RIDER and YUKON (INTERLUDE) are the jumpier, more energetic tracks of the bunch, while the rest of the songs such as Before The Day Is Over, BLAHBLAHBLAH DEMO, and Feeling Like The End retain the soulful and wistful elements of a classic Joji track.

My only reservation about SMITHEREENS is that it is perhaps too short. Nine tracks may seem like a lot but after a couple of streams, it feels repetitive. When you know that Joji is capable of making music that's as amazing as this, you only wish there was more to consume.

It's quite interesting to watch Joji evolve as an artist since his debut album. He has shown us that he does not specialise in lo-fi melancholy only, but is also quite apt at producing upbeat rhythmic songs when needed. SMITHEREENS, however, pays homage to his experimental beginnings and is nothing short of a quintessential Joji album.

Koushin Unber is struggling to keep all of her 19 personalities separate. Send her WikiHow articles at koushinunber27@gmail.com